Sagan exonerated by UCI over Tour de France crash

Sagan exonerated by UCI over Tour de France crash

The UCI and Peter Sagan have settled a dispute over the Slovakian's disqualification from the 2017 Tour de France.

Peter Sagan has been absolved of blame for the crash which resulted in him being disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France.

A dramatic sprint finish in Vittel left Mark Cavendish nursing a dislocated shoulder after Sagan veered towards him and seemingly elbowed the Manxman.

With Cavendish forced to withdraw from the Grand Tour, Sagan was denied a chance to win the points classification for a sixth year in succession when the Commissaires Panel decided that he was at fault for the incident.

Sagan and his Bora-Hansgrohe team saw appeals against the disqualification rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who were due to hear the case on Tuesday in Switzerland.

However, the case has been settled without the need of CAS after the UCI accepted that Sagan was not to blame upon reviewing new film of the incident.

A joint statement from Bora-Hansgrohe and the UCI read: "Having considered the materials submitted in the CAS proceedings, including video footage that was not available at the time when the race jury had disqualified Peter Sagan, the parties agreed that the crash was an unfortunate and unintentional race incident and that the UCI Commissaires made their decision based on their best judgment in the circumstances.

"On this basis, the parties agreed not to continue with the legal proceedings and to focus on the positive steps that can be taken in the future instead."

UCI president David Lappartient announced new procedures for the 2018 UCI World Tour, with a 'Support Commissaire' to be established to assist the panel, a move that Sagan welcomed.

"The past is already forgotten," he said. "It's all about improving our sport in the future.

"I welcome the fact that what happened to me in Vittel has showed that the UCI Commissaires' work is a difficult one and that the UCI has recognised the need to facilitate their work in a more effective way.

"I am happy that my case will lead to positive developments, because it is important for our sport to make fair and comprehensible decisions, even if emotions are sometimes heated up."